The Face That Launched A Thousand Ships
by oblivious2theworld
Summary: Harry, Ron, &Hermione go back to school to make up for the time they missed while going after Horcruxes. Now they're the same year as Ginny&Luna but they soon find that not everyone made it out of the war. Includes Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Neville,etc
1. A Correspondence

**The Face That Launched A Thousand Ships**

**A Correspondence **

I'm starting this story five months after Dumbledore's funeral. Harry has found all the horcruxes with the help of Ron and Hermione. Plus the whole entire Order of the Phoenix, not including Snape. I should probably also mention that Harry already defeated Voldemort. Though in the end, Harry wasn't the one to kill him. Neville was. I guess the prophecy was wrong. I won't go into detail on that because it will probably be brought up again in the story. What's currently happening, or going to happen once the plot comes in, is that Harry, along with the others, is trying to protect Malfoy of all people. The job begins to turn harder than it should. Not only are Slytherins angry with Malfoy, but so are the Deatheaters. Harry has to gather thousands of aurors, Order members, ministry officials, and of course, DA members. This is the reason behind the title; because of Malfoy, thousands of people come forward to protect him. Major conflicts between those against Voldemort and those who support him arose. That wasn't the original plan but I didn't change the title 'cause it still fit.

Before that happens though, I have a whole story to create. Knowing me, I might not even get to that plot; it could very easily be changed to something else. But for now, I'm keeping that plot. Some characters that will be in this story are: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Charlie and the rest of the Weasleys, Neville, and a lot of DA and Order members. Oh, and Malfoy obviously. Now on with the story.

Harry sat down, still holding the same letter in his hands. It was from Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He already knew that he, Ron, and Hermione had missed their seventh year. What he hadn't considered was that they could retake it.

Harry and Hermione had been invited to spend the summer with the Weasley's in their home. They had accepted, wanting to be around the people they loved the very most. Harry was sitting in the kitchen of the Burrow and was the only one in the room. Everyone else was upstairs cleaning. He had just come down for a quick break when he spotted an owl on the table. The parchment she was holding in her claws, the same that was now in Harry's hands, was addressed to him and his two best friends. He had read it over completely three times and was still amazed by the news it held. The possibility of taking his final year at school a year late was, although preposterous, absolutely wonderful. It would be embarrassing to do that, but Harry was used to hearing whispers in the halls. If he could take that year of schooling, he would have a chance at being an auror. He was ready to reply to Headmistress McGonagall right away, telling her to expect them back. But there was one thing holding him back: he hadn't told Ron or Hermione about the letter yet.

He knew he should; it was addressed to the three of them. However, he was worried that they wouldn't want to go back. Well, actually no, he wasn't worried about Hermione. Just Ron. After all, Ginny was in her seventh year this coming September as well. It would take an extreme lot of adjustment for Ron to be able to agree with that. And that was the exact reason that Harry was nervous to show him the letter; if Ron didn't want to go, Harry wouldn't go either. It would be being disloyal to his best friend. So he waited. He would let them come to him, and if they asked him about the letter he would show it to them.

Harry was rather happy with that idea until Ron and Hermione came looking for him a minute later.

"There you are, Harry. Mrs. Weasley sent us looking for you," Hermione informed him.

"Oh, sorry. I was just about to come up."

"What's that in your hand mate? Who's it from?" Ron asked. Harry winced inwardly. So much for his genius plan.

"Oh er, well, it's actually for you also. Both of you," he said. Hermione held her hand out for it, expectantly. Harry handed it to her, dejected.

Hermione gave him an odd, questioning look before looking down at the parchment. "It's from McGonagall?" she asked curiously. Now Ron looked up at her with interest. Hermione continued reading the following:

Dear Harry, Ron, and Hermione,

I would first like to congratulate you once again on your amazing feat. It truly saved the lives of many. With that said I would like to inform you, on behalf of Hogwarts, that you would be welcomed back with open arms. It would, under normal circumstance, be frowned upon deeply for students to leave school before having completed their education. However, we have all agreed that the three of you deserve a chance to take your seventh year, a year late. This has been decided after taking into account that you didn't attend last year to perform a task that would benefit the entire Wizarding community. It is up to you to decide whether or not you will attend _this_ year. Just keep in mind that this _will_ be your last chance. Please send a reply as soon as you decide. Thank you.

Sincerely yours,

Minerva McGonagall

When Hermione finished reading no one spoke. Harry sat perfectly still, feeling uncomfortable. Ron on the other hand stood up and paced, fidgeting with the letter, which Hermione had just handed to him. He read it over once then looked up and caught Harry's attention. They wordlessly agreed. Ron spoke up first. "Okay. I'll go back if you two do. I've been thinking about this a lot lately and really want to finish up school."

Hermione beamed. "Really? I have been thinking about it too." She paused for a moment and looked at Harry. "What about you Harry? Do you want to go to Hogwarts again?"

Harry simply nodded. He would have asked Ron how he felt about being the same year as his sister, but Harry kept quiet. He could always talk to Ron later.

Silently, Harry got up and found a piece of parchment. He began writing their reply.

Dear Professor McGonagall,

Hermione, Ron, and I have been discussing your offer. We would all like to thank you for giving us this chance. I accept it on behalf of all of us. You can expect to see us again next year. Also I was curious to know whether or not the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher has been filled. If not I may know someone who would be good for the job. Again, thank you for giving us this opportunity.

Your students,

_**Harry Potter**_

_**Ron Weasley**_

_Hermione Granger_

When Harry finished they each read it over and signed it. The owl that had delivered McGonagall's letter hadn't left yet so they just used her. Once the bird was simply a speck in the sky, the three friends made their way back upstairs to resume cleaning.

They went about the rest of the day as if it were just as normal as the next. They told no one about their owl from McGonagall in case something happened, and they weren't allowed to attend their seventh year at Hogwarts. So they waited. The next morning when everyone was finished with breakfast, the owl returned. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing in the kitchen, washing, drying, and putting away the dishes. The owl, which flew in through the open window, landed on the counter that Ron was using to set his dry plates on. He was in the process of doing just that when it collided with the stack of plates. Luckily Ron caught them before they fell. He scowled at the owl for disrupting his work.

When he realized what the bird had tied to its leg, all irritation was forgotten for the moment. "Harry, McGonagall has sent a reply," he said over his shoulder. Harry hurried over and untied the parchment from the owl's leg. He scanned over it before reading it aloud.

Dear Harry, Ron, and Hermione,

I'm glad to hear from you again. I'll be happy to have you in my class again next year. As for your question Mr. Potter, my answer is no. We have not replaced Severus Snape's job yet. Any suggestions would be welcomed. Just know that they must be certified by the Ministry before I can even consider offering a position on Hogwart's staff. May I ask who it is you recommend?

Be expecting school letters to be coming in soon with your needed supplies listed, as well as anything else you may need to know before term starts.

Sincerely yours,

Minerva McGonagall

"Harry I was wondering the same thing as Professor McGonagall. Who is it that you're going to recommend?" Hermione asked him. Ron looked at him questioningly as well.

Harry shook his head. "I'd rather not say just yet. I'll reply to McGonagall right now. Wait till she sends a letter back. Then I'll explain." Harry started making his way up to Ron's bedroom, which Ron had shared with Harry this summer.

The truth was Harry did want to tell them. But he would wait until McGonagall gave her opinion on it. Harry knew that Ron and Hermione would love this person to be their teacher and that they would be disappointed if it didn't happen. It would be better to wait.

He began writing, once again, to McGonagall.

Dear Professor,

You asked me in your last letter who it was I thought would make a good teacher. The person I had in mind is Charlie Weasley. He mentioned to me a few days ago that his job in Romania isn't as good as it had been before the war. Apparently Voldemort killed off a lot of dragons so we couldn't use them as weapons against him. Now there are very few left in the area Charlie works. He was saying that he'd have to get another job soon because this one just isn't paying well enough. I know that he could get approval from the Ministry since he trained in Dark Animals and Arts when he got his job working with dragons. With that training he must be qualified to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. I hope you will at least consider him while searching for a new teacher.

Your student,

**Harry Potter**

Harry saw that the owl had followed him upstairs. He tied the letter to her and opened the window. With that done he headed off to find Mrs. Weasley, who, he was sure, would have another job for him to do.

AN: So, what do you think? Should I continue? I think I'll wait till I get five reviews, at least, before I keep going. If I don't get that many, this will simply become a oneshot, lost in the pages and pages of Harry Potter fanfics. So I really hope you review, even if you hate the story. It's obviously going to get better; it won't all be so boring. I just had to get in a beginning. I plan on updating in about a week at the VERY MOST. But first I need those reviews. Thanks.


	2. Weasleys

**The Face That Launched A Thousand Ships**

**Weasleys**

**A/N: I just wanted to apologize for the first two paragraphs of the first chapter. It was meant to be an author's note, sort of. It was kind of a prologue to what had happened and what was going to happen soon in the story. Anything I said about Malfoy, Deatheaters, DA or Order members, ministry officials, or Slytherins HAS NOT HAPPENED YET!!!! I'm sorry if it was confusing. I promise not to do that again. And I know I said that I would wait till I got 5 reviews before I updated but by the end of the week it was already 20 pages back probably. It's hard to get people to read it when they can't even find it. So I decided to go ahead and update now. I'm going on a trip for a few days and might update the next chapter when I get back from it. Read and review!**

Three weeks later, Harry was standing, once again in the Weasley's kitchen. Only now he was standing by the fire, waiting his turn to travel by Floo Powder. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Charlie were on their way to Diagon Alley to get school supplies and to visit Fred and George.

"Mum, are you sure you and Dad don't want to come too?" Ginny asked for the second time, being polite. Molly Weasley smiled and shook her head.

"No, you kids can go alone this time. I got to go with you to buy the school books. That's enough for me," Mrs. Weasley said. And it was true; she had taken them to get their books. Today they were just getting the last minute supplies they'd forgotten. As the last few people stepped through the fire Mrs. Weasley added one last comment. "Just try and stay safe, please!" Harry, being the very last out of the kitchen, smiled at her reassuringly. Then he too walked through the flames.

When he turned around again he was standing under the mantle of the fireplace in the Leakey Cauldron. Harry hurried to catch up with the others. They stepped out of the dusty building, getting hit in the eyes with bright sunlight. "Weasley's Wizard Weazes are about a five minutes walk from here. We can go there first and make our way to the other places we need to go from there," Charlie directed. He had recently received and accepted Professor McGonagall's request to teach the following year; for this reason he had been extremely lighthearted the past few days. They all followed him up the street, heading towards Fred and George's store.

Once they got there everyone was hesitant to go in. It wasn't that they didn't want to see Fred and George; it was just that "Hellos" seemed to be much more awkward now that they could take their time. Everyone had gotten used to rushing about, only having time for a quick acknowledgement. It might take awhile before people got back to their careless selves. So they stood there for a moment, waiting for someone to do something. Finally Ron, rolling his eyes in the process, opened the door and walked in, not looking back. Everyone went after him, one at a time. Anyone who was already in the shop jumped when they heard the door close; it was almost as if people were waiting for the new-found safety to make way once again for terror to take hold. After a few seconds, everyone went back to being as normal as possible.

With the whole group now standing in the middle of the room, they were placed in an awkward pause yet another time. It was thankfully broken when Fred and George stepped out of a back room and, seeing their family and friends, rushed forward, beaming. They both greeted everyone, hugging Ginny twice. She was the main person they always worried about even though she was very capable of defending herself. It was just their protectiveness that comes to all brothers who have little sisters.

Ginny uncomfortably hugged them back, and George invited everyone to sit in their office (recently put in, and which they were both very proud of) so they could catch up on the events in everyone's lives.

After almost twenty minutes of that, Harry turned the conversation to the twins. "How's everything going with you two? Weasleys' Wizard Weazes seems to be doing well."

"Yeah it is. Actually, we've made quite a few connections with higher ranking businesses," Fred said, trying not to sound _too_ proud. The other Weasleys, plus Harry and Hermione, offered them both congratulations.

George supplied a few details. "We've been invited to some dinner parties this month even; it's bizarre. Not all of them are even business-related. A couple were just social gatherings of, though mostly purebreds, loads of different wizards."

Fred picked it up from there. "Next week we were actually invited to come to a dinner with a lot of ministry officials and people that are important to them, celebrating You-Know-Who's defeat."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that; Mum and Dad were invited as well since he works there," Charlie said. "I think he said we could all come, it was allowed. For you who are still in school there is a party in a different room for teenagers." This time he addressed the others.

They carried on a conversation for another hour and a half. After that though, they all said their goodbyes since they still needed to buy supplies for school.

A week later Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny were all walking towards the room a witch had said to go. They were at the Ministry of Magic for Arthur, Fred, and George's 'formal dinner'. All the adults had gone off to the room a floor above them, where everyone else was meeting. The witch from the hallway had told them all underage witches and wizards were meeting in room 247 on the fourth floor. When they got there they saw a few people they knew. The Patil twins were there, as well as Lavender Brown, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and quite a few Slytherins and Ravenclaws they didn't know or just didn't relate with. Harry led the way over to greet Neville and Luna, who were standing by the drinks.

"Luna, Neville, hi! It's great to see you guys. How's your summer been so far?" Hermione asked them, hugging Luna, as did Ginny.

Luna replied. "We've been great. It's good to see you again too."

"Who are you here with?" Neville added quietly.

"We're with my Mum, Dad, and brothers. You?" Ron said.

"My grandmother is good friends with some ladies who work here. Luna's dad met her a few times, and she invited Luna and him to join us tonight."

Harry and the other three had to try hard to keep from laughing at the idea of Neville's strict grandmother being friends with Luna's dad, who is editor for a crazy wizarding magazine.

They six of them went on talking awhile longer. All was going fine till Malfoy came over to get something to drink. The group of friends got quiet, wondering what he would say to make fun of them. However, they were in for a surprise when Malfoy simply got his soda quietly and turned to leave. He acknowledged them with only a glance before going back to wherever he had been. "What was that? Malfoy didn't even _try_ to be rude. Do you think he noticed us?" Ron asked, even though he knew full well that Malfoy saw them.

No one said anything for a few moments. But then Luna spoke up with a far away look in her eyes, watching nothing in particular. "Yes he saw us. He didn't however have any need to pick on us because his friends weren't around for him to impress."

"But he hates us. It was him who spent all sixth year trying to kill…" Ron faded of, looking pained at mentioning that year's events. Harry started talking, answering Ron's unsaid words.

"He was forced and pressured by the Deatheaters, even his own family, to do all that. In the end, he decided against doing that to…Dumbledore." His voice had become a whisper and he cleared his throat. "I watched everything. I saw it on his face; he didn't want to hurt Dumbledore at all. He never did."

Ron looked about to protest but Hermione held up a hand. She said, "Harry is right. He was the one who was there, and the one who has always been Malfoy's main target to mess with. If Harry doesn't hold it against Mal- no, if Harry doesn't hold it against _Draco_, none of us should." Hermione struggled to say his first name. "And Luna's right too. He only ever did and said any of those mean things because he was around certain people. Most of them were kids of Deatheaters so he of course had to play the part of spoiled rich kid around them. Otherwise, word might slip to their parents that _Draco_ wasn't acting like a Slytherin. Then Draco would get in trouble. It makes sense if you consider it all." By the last time she said his name, it wasn't as forced.

Ginny joined in the conversation at this point. "I agree with you, Hermione. _Draco _Malfoy shouldn't be judged by what he has done to torment us all this time; he did it so he wouldn't be in danger with Voldemort's followers." Neville, Ron, and Luna nodded in agreement. Harry and Hermione kept still, but both agreed with what she was saying. "Obviously he's been shunned be all his friends for not completing his job about the Headmaster. I mean really, look around. All the Slytherins are ignoring him."

"No one deserves that," Neville said quietly.

"Not Malfoy," Ron added.

"Not anyone, no matter how mean they may be at first," Harry whispered. They all sat down and silently thought for a few minutes, ignoring the people around them. Then Luna spoke once again.

"I believe that Draco Malfoy is in for a hard school year this coming semester." Everyone nodded. "The other Slytherins may very well try to hurt him because he 'disobeyed orders' last year. I think it's up to us to make sure it doesn't happen. Or at least do that when we can; none of us are in the Slytherin common room. That means we have to protect Draco any other time we're around him."

"But he must not notice us. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be too happy if I knew my used to be enemies started following me around like bodyguards," Ron said.

"Then he won't know. Or at least not for as long as possible," Hermione declared, still quietly so they weren't overheard.

"This is so crazy. But I'm glad we're doing it," Ginny said. Harry and Neville simply sat there while trying to imagine what was coming next school year.

But then something dawned on Hermione. "But Neville, you can't help us."

Neville looked hurt and confused when she said this. "Why not?"

The others looked at Hermione questioningly as well. She sighed, once again having to proclaim the obvious. "Because you don't have to retake your seventh year. We do because of everything that happened with Voldemort, and Draco does because he was in hiding last year. But you're done with school."

Neville relaxed and smiled, somewhat proudly. "Actually no, I'm still going to be at Hogwarts next year. At the end of last year Professor Sprouts asked me to be her assistant this year. Once she retires in a few years, I get her spot on staff!"

"Neville, that's great!"

"Congratulations!"

"How cool!"

Everyone started talking at once. Neville thanked them, starting to turn kind of pink. After that, their conversation just left some how. No one brought up Malfoy again that night. Instead they talked about everything that would be happening next year. Soon they were going on about Quidditch and Hogsmeade, along with everything else to look forward to. They enjoyed their evening and all went home in peace.


	3. Last Dinner Before Platform 9, 34

**The Face That Launched A Thousand Ships**

**One Last Dinner Before Platform 9 ¾ **

Harry sat between Ron and Hermione at the kitchen table in the Burrow. They were happy to sit quietly without moving, but unfortunately, their stillness didn't last long. Mrs. Weasley came downstairs and got upset when she saw them just sitting there. "You three! Everyone else is outside preparing for dinner. I hope you haven't forgotten that this _will_ be the last time we all eat together before you start your last year of schooling." Molly started getting rather emotional and shooed them all outside. They quickly complied, feeling somewhat guilty for making this harder on Mrs. Weasley. Harry and Ron walked over to where Bill was cooking the last of the food with Arthur. Hermione went to help Fleur and Ginny get all the gnomes out of the garden. Fred and George came to help them with the task soon after apparating to the Burrow. Everyone was quick to do their part to get dinner ready under the watchful eyes of Mrs. Weasley.Once the meal was ready they all sat on picnic tables that Charlie had brought out. Harry was sitting between Fred and George. Hermione and Ron were across from them with Ginny on Hermione's right side. Everyone else was spread around them.

Sometime during dessert Fred leaned in toward Harry and muttered, "Once again, thanks for helping us get the business started. It's still being put to use. Remember the new office we put in? That was paid for almost completely with your money from the Triwizard." George nodded in agreement, having been listening.

"It was no big deal. I'm glad you could use it. I sure didn't want that money," Harry said. The last sentence was barely audible, but both twins managed to hear it.

George smiled at him in understanding. "We almost gave it all back, but we knew you wouldn't like to have it. So we put it to good use." Harry smiled back at him, uncomfortable to be talking about it. He quickly started up a conversation with Ron about Quidditch. Next to Ron Hermione and Ginny were talking about how the other Gryffindors they knew were doing.

"Everyone's doing really well," Ginny informed her friend. "Or at least everyone who was still there last year was. All the Houses have half the amount of students that they used to. Slytherin has the very least and Hufflepuff has the most since they, overall, stayed out of the war. A lot of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws didn't come back because family members were killed from their involvement in the war. Same thing for Slytherins, though their families were mostly all on the other side. All the Houses lost some students who went to fight in the war themselves. The majority of those actually came back, surprisingly." They went on discussing different topics about school for awhile longer.

After Ginny finished telling her about how all the teachers had taken turns teaching D.A.D.A last year, Hermione asked her another question. "Ginny, with so many of the students being gone, how were Quidditch teams affected?" Ron and Harry, who had been listening with vague interest for the last few minutes perked up at the question.

Ginny answered with a grim expression. "It was ruined last year. There weren't any games or teams. We could play on the field anytime we wanted but it wasn't nearly the same. I spent most of my time helping Neville and Luna improve."

"Really? What positions are they best at?" George asked; he and Fred listening now too.

"Actually Neville is almost as good as you two are at being a Beater; Luna has quite a bit of talent in Chasing." The others looked surprised slightly at both of those statements. Ginny continued. "McGonagall mentioned at the end of the year that if the schools could get together four teams, we could go back to having real matches next year."

"But Ginny, wouldn't Luna be on the Ravenclaw team?" Harry wondered.

"Not necessarily. McGonagall said that if the teams weren't all separate Houses, it would be alright under the circumstances."

"Then we almost have a full team," Ron said excitedly. "We have our Seeker, Keeper, two Chasers, and a Beater if Neville is allowed to play still. We only need one more Beater and Chaser. That should be easy enough to find."

"Hey maybe if you're lucky Cho Chang has to come back this year too. She was a good Chaser I remember. Back in your fifth year she was so sad all the time, I don't think she passed half her classes; there's a good chance she would have to be there this year to finish up," Fred said.

"Yeah…er…maybe," Ginny said slowly but she sounded doubtful. Something occurred to Hermione.

"Ginny… Did Cho…Did she come back last year?" Everyone stared between the two girls, waiting for an answer.

"Well, no. She didn't." No one moved, or breathed it seemed like, for the few seconds between that and her next sentence, which was rushed in hopes to reassure them all. "But before the year ended we found out that she was okay; her parents just hadn't allowed her to go. They knew too many people who hadn't made it through the summer, and they didn't want to risk losing their daughter. Sorry, should have said that first."

They all glanced at Harry, unsure how he had reacted. He seemed fine though looked really irritated and proved it by saying, "Well good to know that no one else we knew got hurt. But you can all stop watching me; I'm no more worried about Cho than any of you are. My feelings for her evaporated long before fifth year ended." Under his breath, Ron muttered something that sounded remarkably like "Well I would hope so". He was referring to the fact that Harry had been dating his sister after that. No one heard the comment except, some how, Hermione. She reached behind Harry a pinched Ron, hard, on the arm. Rubbing it painfully, he let Harry finish. "Actually I don't know quite what made me like her in the first place; now I see her as a friend. No more, no less." The way he said it, he must have just realized that he had said it all in front of everyone, not just Ron and Hermione like usual. To late now though.

"We know Harry," Hermione said. "I'm just relieved that none of our close friends were hurt. That would've been awful." After that the conversation turned to brighter topics, such as who could possibly take the last two spots on the Quidditch team. Once, after desert when everyone was just sitting around talking, Harry glanced at Ginny; he still cared about her but he wished he didn't for he thought that she had probably moved on.

He was mistaken though. Ginny wasn't even close to moving on. She hoped that one day, she and Harry would be able to work things out between them. But for now that wouldn't be a main priority for either of them. This next school year was going to be too busy to worry about something like that. After all they had a lot on their hands with N.E.W.T.S, watching out for Malfoy, deciding what to do with their lives, and simply surviving another year at school. And all the years previous proved that that wasn't a simple thing to do. So any thoughts of dating were pushed to the back of their minds for Harry, Ginny, and even Ron and Hermione. For now, they were all content in the way things were.

The next morning was started with a loud pounding on the door of Ron and Harry's bedroom. "Come on boys, it's time to wake up!" could be heard through the wood as Mrs. Weasley continued knocking until they got up.

"Alright already Mum. We're awake!" Ron said, loud enough for her to hear. Satisfied, she left to make sure every one else was up and ready. It was 5:30 in the morning, two hours earlier than they had to wake up on pervious years. The train was scheduled to leave sooner than usual for safety measures; because of this, Molly was making sure they got there in plenty of time.

Still half asleep, Harry and Ron rolled out of bed and started their morning routines. Surprisingly, both had finished packing before going to bed last night and didn't have to bother with anything except taking luggage down to the car. With that done, they went into the kitchen to get breakfast.

Sitting at the table was Hermione and Ginny. By the looks of it, Hermione was wide awake and getting on Ginny's last nerve. They both turned as the boys came in and Ginny looked all too happy for the distraction from Hermione's never-ending chatter.

"She woke up an hour earlier than necessary," Ginny explained.

"Ah," Ron said and moved away from the spot next to Hermione, where he was about to sit down. He instead sat across from Ginny with Harry across from Hermione.

Hermione, thank goodness, fell into silence, eating her muffin. "Have you two loaded your luggage yet?" Harry asked them.

Ginny nodded. "Yes. We brought extra pillows so we could sleep on the train though." They all finished their breakfast quietly, no one wanting to start a conversation, even Hermione. It seemed as if she had run out of steam and was now rather tired. When everyone was done eating they went outside followed closely by Mrs. and Mr. Weasley. They didn't see a car, but let Arthur guide them up the road. He took them up to an old, moldy newspaper and had them all gather around. "Mr. Weasley, didn't we just load all of our stuff into a car? Why couldn't we ride in there?" Hermione asked.

"The Ministry would only give me one car to use, but with all of us, we would need two. Everyone," he said, addressing the others. "Grab hold of the portkey." Everybody did as instructed and when they landed there were people all around. Mr. Weasley said something but it couldn't be heard over the other people shouting and train whistles sounding. Instead of trying uselessly to continue talking he simply waved his handed, indicating for them to follow.

When they reached a brick post between the platforms 9 and 10 everyone stopped walking. One by one they leaned inconspicuously against the bricks and fell through the magical barrier. Once everyone was one the other side it was noticeably quieter because of the lack of people. Yes, there were still plenty of people roaming around but when compared to the hundreds on the muggle side, it was nothing. "Your luggage should all be on the train now. You had better get on as well. Come tell me goodbye," Mrs. Weasley said. She hugged everyone at least once and wished them a good year. After waving goodbye to Mr. Weasley they all boarded, looking back at least once.

They found an empty compartment easily(Not many people had come as early as they had and the four of them still had another half hour until things got busier.) Ginny made sure that she saved seats for Neville and Luna and then positioned her pillow against the window and fell right asleep. Hermione did the some a few minutes later. That left the two boys to play Exploding Snap and talk quietly about nothing in particular.

Almost an hour later Neville and Luna arrived together, followed shortly by the train starting its journey. Ron turned to Neville and asked, "Did Luna stay with you and your Gran this summer? Is that how you two came together?"

Luna was the one that answered the question. "No. As it turns out, Dad and I don't live far from Neville's house. We've all spent most of the summer around each though, yes. His Gran offered to take me to the train station because my dad had to go into work early."

"Oh. Did both have a good summer then?" Harry asked.

"Yeah we did. Gran actually took us to a Quidditch match one weekend!" Neville said excitedly.

"It was an excellent game. I really enjoyed listening to the commentary," Luna said in her usual dreamy way. The three of them gave her odd looks, thinking it was crazy that she thought the _commentary_ was the best part. Neville went on to explain the match to them in detail. When the food trolley came they all bought a few sweets and Harry got extra so Ginny and Hermione could have some when they woke up.

The two girls did wake up with about two hours left until arrival. They took the offered candies and joined in to the conversation which had changed to the topic of Hagrid. They spent a good amount of time reminiscing all the dangerous creatures they'd encountered because of him.

Finally, after all the snacks had long-since been eaten, the castle came into view. They all went to change into robes and then got the luggage down so they'd be ready to get off when the train pulled into the station.

**A/N: I know; I should have made a better ending. Oh well though, I couldn't find a way to end it with out going a lot further. Hope you liked the chapter and I hope you'll review. I will get the next chapter up at some point. Bye.**


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